Special Report: NCPO continues efforts to create understanding with international community

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is sending a delegation comprising members of the business and civic sectors, to visit foreign countries in order to create better understanding with the international community, starting from the Asian region.

Head of the NCPO General Prayuth Chan-ocha said that the NCPO has continuously clarified Thailand’s stance with the international community in all aspects.

As for the international concern over the military intervention in Thailand, General Prayuth explained that the reason the military had taken control over national administration was to end violence. There was a trend towards chaos; conflicting groups were using war-grade weapons in many areas; and the economy was stalled. Since 22 May 2014, the NCPO has seized caches of war-grade weapons and has been investigating the networks.

According to him, the purpose of inviting individuals with conflicting views and those who were involved in the conflict to report themselves to the NCPO was for discussions. The NCPO did not call them in for incarceration, nor would the NCPO indiscriminately use its power against them.

General Prayuth said that if the NCPO had not invited them in, there was a chance of the rifts deepening. It was a necessity, depending on the severity of each case. He did not wish for any group to use this to instigate or falsify information to create hatred and division among fellow citizens.

The NCPO has supported judicial processes to end the conflict through the jurisdiction system on a neutral basis, without any distortion of the rules of law. It has a policy not to intervene in the judicial process to assist any particular group, since the NCPO believes that this would cause further conflict in the future.

General Prayuth stated that the NCPO and all Thai citizens uphold and have faith in the democratic system with His Majesty the King as Head of State. The NCPO fully realizes that the military intervention may be perceived by the West as a threat to democracy and a violation of the people’s liberty. However, this military intervention was inevitable, in order to uphold national security and to strengthen democracy.

He said that, on 1 July 2014, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was very well aware of the situation in Thailand, and assured him of the NCPO’s plan in dealing with the labor issue. The Cambodian side, on this occasion, granted an amnesty to Mr. Veera Somkwamkid who had been detained for 3 years for illegally entering the Cambodian soil.

General Prayuth also congratulated Mr. Veera on his release. On behalf of the NCPO, he expressed his sincere appreciation to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his utmost gratitude to His Majesty the King of Cambodia. He also thanked the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs for his endeavors to mend the Thai-Cambodian ties.